


love can be yours (if you step up to the counter and order)

by mythicalqueen



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: F/F, background data/geordi and beverly/vash, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 00:56:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19735126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mythicalqueen/pseuds/mythicalqueen
Summary: Tasha is a regular at Ten Forward, the coffee shop Deanna works at to pay for grad school. Featuring discounted coffee, annoying coworkers, and references to some iconic lines from tng.





	love can be yours (if you step up to the counter and order)

**Author's Note:**

> for bahoreal on tumblr for sapphicstartrek's fanwork exchange
> 
> i've never written tasha/deanna or a coffee shop au before so i hope this is ok
> 
> Title is from Taylor the Latte Boy by Kristin Chenoweth

Deanna rubbed her temples as her latest customer turned around after placing their order with an excruciating amount of complaining. Only an hour into her shift, she could already tell it was going to be a long day. She sighed. Logically, of course, she knew that her dream job involved a lot of working with people so this should be good practice for that, but there was something about customer service that brought out the worst in people. Well, the customers, anyways.

She turned around to start working on the drink rather than standing there and enduring more complaining when it took more than approximately thirty seconds to get them their six dollar, overly complicated, specialty drink. Made with soy milk, of course. 

That was the thing about therapy. As frustrating as clients could be as a result of discomfort, they didn’t usually berate their therapist for not being fast enough, or messing up their order, or not smiling. God, Deanna hated parts of this job. She also loved other parts, like the her coworkers and the free chocolate cake.

She turned slightly at the familiar sound of bells jingling, signalling a new customer. Geordi turned, too, and waved, though he couldn’t see who it was. 

“Hi, Geordi,” said the newcomer, a tallish woman with an undercut and short, bleached hair on top. 

Geordi’s face lit up a little. “Morning, Tasha,” he responded with a smile as she approached the counter. 

Tasha then seemed to notice Deanna who was now at the register to take her order. She seemed a little more nervous suddenly, and Deanna felt bad for apparently making her anxious. 

“The regular?” Geordi asked, turning over his shoulder as if to look at her while he already started to make her regular order.

“Yeah, thanks, Geordi,” she said.

“Which is?” Deanna asked, her fingers hovering over the register waiting to know how much to charge. 

“Just charge it as a coffee,” Geordi said. Deanna nodded and thanked him.

“Geordi, I--” Tasha started to protest, but Geordi interrupted her.

“Look, you’re probably how we make most of our money anyways, so don’t worry about it.”

Tasha rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. “I’m not sure about that,” she said to him as she handed Deanna a five dollar bill before actually hearing her total. “Keep the change,” she said, now addressing Deanna. 

“Oh, thank you,” Deanna said, dropping the change into the tip jar. 

“Are you new here?” Tasha asked.

“Yeah, I’ve been here for about a week. Nice to meet you,” she said.

“You, too,” she glanced down at the name tag, “Deanna.”

“Tasha’s in here all the time,” Geordi said, sliding a coffee and a bagel across the counter to her. 

Well, good, Deanna thought, looking up at her.

*

Tasha stepped into Ten Forward, a local establishment named for its address and known for fueling the hordes of college students through the school year, as well as the few people here who weren’t students. Like new cops fresh out of the academy. There was a Starbucks or five in town, too, but Ten Forward had good enough coffee, prices, and history to stay in business and even continue to thrive. 

She was practically dragging Worf behind her, because his usual idea of a social event was doing martial arts training with her, and as much fun as that was, he really needed to get out more. She held the door open for him to step in, barely registering the bells jingling aftering having come in so many times. 

She looked around the shop. It wasn’t the busiest she had seen it by any means, but there were still several people sitting around. She walked up to the counter, smiling brightly and blushing a little when her eyes landed on Deanna, who was currently wrestling her thick, curly hair back into the ponytail she kept it in at work. 

Tasha had been a regular here for a long time, but she would be lying if she said she hadn’t started coming in more frequently recently, hoping to run into Deanna.

Data noticed her first and waved a little awkwardly in greeting. She waved back, grinning. Data had gone to high school with her, and they’d managed to maintain their friendship over the years despite the awkward month in sophomore year when they had sort of dated before they both realized they were gay. 

Deanna noticed Data waving and turned around. Her expression immediately shifted from moderate curiosity to a wide smile, which only made Tasha blush more. She ducked her head, hoping Deanna wouldn’t notice. 

“Hey,” Deanna said, stepping towards the register. “The regular?” she asked, slightly amused.

“Uh, no, just the coffee today. Large,” she said, pulling out her wallet and noticing that the price displayed on the cash register indicated that Deanna was only charging her for a small. She made eye contact with Deanna, about to protest, but all words left her mind when Deanna grinned and winked at her. “Oh, and whatever he’s getting,” she remembered, gesturing to Worf.

He grumbled a little before ordering a tea, which Deanna added to Tasha’s total. This time, Tasha handed her a ten, and her ever present, “Keep the change.” Deanna looked like she might protest, but Tasha looked at her pointedly and she sighed and dropped the money in the tip jar. It wasn’t that Tasha had a surplus of money by any means, just that she knew that working in customer service sucked and that most of the people who worked here were students and probably needed the money. Plus, well, she owed a lot to this place. 

Will poked his head out from the small kitchen in the back. “Is that Tasha?” he asked, though it was mostly rhetorical. “And co?”

“Hey, Will,” Tasha responded as Data handed her her coffee. “This is Worf, my partner,” she said, addressing his second question. 

Deanna raised an eyebrow at the word partner and maybe, maybe looked a little disappointed. 

Worf nodded in acknowledgement of Riker. Geordi, who happened to be walking up to visit Data, rolled his eyes. 

“Cop partner,” he specified for them. “Not romantic.” Tasha and Worf both looked horrified by the implication that that was even a possibility and Deanna, Geordi, and Will all laughed. 

“Oh, I didn’t even think about that,” Tasha said. Geordi shook his head, grinning. Data reached across the counter to hold his hand. 

“Nice to meet you, Worf,” Will finally said. “I’m Will.”

“Deanna,” Deanna said, noticing that Tasha seemed to smile at her a bit as she said it.

“Geordi. And this is Data, my romantic partner,” Geordi said, still close to laughing. Data sort of smiled.

“Nice to meet you all, too,” Worf said, clearly somewhat uncomfortable.

*

“Deanna!” Beverly said excitedly as she reached the counter. “I didn’t know you worked here, now,” she said. They’d been in a bunch of the same classes in college, since pre-med and psychology had a decent amount of overlap and Beverly had always been pretty interested in psychology anyways. 

“Have to pay for grad school somehow,” she responded and Beverly nodded in understanding. 

“If I had the time on top of med school, I’d still be working here, too,” she responded. Deanna had nearly forgotten that Beverly had worked there when they were undergrads. “But huh, Guinan really doesn’t hire anyone straight, does she?”

Deanna furrowed her brow for a minute, before thinking about it and realizing she was right. Geordi and Data were gay, she and Will and Beverly were bisexual, and she hadn’t actually confirmed that the new girl Ro was gay, but there was no way she was straight. “I guess not,” Deanna answered in amusement. “What can I get for you?” she asked. 

“Can I get an iced mocha?”

“Yeah, of course.” Beverly started to pull out her card. 

“You know Guinan gives employees and former employees drinks on the house,” Deanna said, stopping her. 

Beverly sighed. “Okay, fine.” She instead pulled out cash and dropped a few dollars into the tip jar.

“Thank you,” Deanna said, and turned around to start making the drink before being stopped.

“I got it,” Geordi said. “Hey, soon-to-be Doctor Crusher.” 

“Hey, Geordi.” 

Deanna turned back to the counter and noticed Tasha walking up. Beverly stepped to the side to let her place her order after saying hi to her. Tasha really had been a regular for a while, then.

“What can I get for you, Tasha?” Deanna asked, grinning and tucking a piece of her hair that had fallen from her high messy bun back behind her ear. Beverly narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the motion.

Tasha did not think about how much she would’ve liked to tuck that hair behind Deanna’s ear. Definitely not. “Bagel and coffee.”

“I’m shocked,” Deanna teased as she rang her up for just a small coffee. Beverly tried to make eye contact with her as Tasha passed Deanna the money. It took a minute, but she finally did.

“Girlfriend?” Beverly mouthed to Deanna, glancing over at Tasha. Deanna rolled her eyes and shook her head, but Beverly also noticed her blush and grinned. Tasha looked between the two of them, confused by the wordless exchange, but didn’t say anything.

Deanna grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee before handing it to Tasha. “Your bagel will be out in a minute,” she said. 

“Thanks,” Tasha responded, going to a nearby table.

Once she was out of earshot, Beverly leaned forward to quietly say, “Look, I’ll admit that in my experience, Tasha is always a little awkward and easily flustered, but that was a new level.”

Deanna glared but without much hostility, just mild annoyance. “She’s not that awkward.”

“She is, you just think it’s cute.” She smirked. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

“You’re... not wrong. I mean, Tasha is physically very attractive.” If anything, Beverly smirked even more. “But just leave it alone.”

“Not a chance,” Beverly responded as Geordi handed her the mocha she’d asked for. “Geordi, can I get a second opinion?”

“I can’t even see them and I know they’re giving each other heart eyes,” he responded, his smirk matching Beverly’s. Deanna glared at both of them and took Tasha’s bagel out to her, ignoring them laughing at her.

*

“Deanna, think fast,” Will called from the kitchen, and Deanna turned around just in time to be hit in the chest by a small projectile that she somehow managed to catch before it hit the ground. She looked at it and realized it was an enamel pin of the bisexual pride flag. She looked at him in confusion and he nodded towards the glass panelling at the front of the store that Tasha was visible through. “Quick, put it on before Tasha has an aneurysm trying to figure out if you like women,” he said, grinning. She glared but put it on her apron anyways, turning around to face the front of the store just as Tasha walked in.

“Hey,” Tasha said, smiling at her when she reached the counter. “Oh. Nice pin.” She was definitely blushing a little. Deanna didn’t want to turn around to grab a mug and have to make eye contact with Will, but she did, and he winked, a shit eating grin on his face. She resisted the urge to throw something at him.

*

“Oh, shit, hey there, Officer Yar,” the kid said, trying and failing to hide the blunt he’d been smoking. She gave him a pointed look. He sighed. “Please don’t, like, arrest me.”

“Give me the blunt. Do you have any other drugs on you?” she said sternly, but not without compassion. “I’m not gonna arrest you, don’t worry.”

He handed her the blunt and a small bag with weed. “Thanks.”

“C’mon, walk with me,” Tasha said, throwing away the drugs in a trash can near them. The kid looked like he might protest, but stopped himself. “I get it. I did drugs when I was around your age, too. Drugs can make you feel good. They can... they can help you forget or ignore all the stuff going on in your life. But they don’t help in the long run. They hurt.”

“Yeah, I know, but--”

“The community center has some support groups, you know. For people who’ve been through trauma or who have trouble with drugs.”

“Whatever.”

“How’s your brother doing?” Tasha asked, opening the door to Ten Forward for him as they arrived.

“He’s pretty good, I think. I don’t see him that much since I work and have school and all.”

“Go ahead and get whatever you want,” she said once they reached the counter. “Hey, Deanna,” she said softly.

“Officer Yar, I--” the kid started.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it,” she said. “Get something to eat.”

He sighed and ordered, and a fond smile appeared on Deanna’s face as she realized what was happening. Tasha got a coffee that Deanna refused to charge her for and tipped very generously as the kid found a table.

“That’s very nice of you, Tasha,” Deanna said, looking over at the kid in his worn clothes.

Tasha shrugged. “Well, you know... it’s just the right thing to do.”

*

“Oh, is Deanna not in?” Tasha asked as she walked up to the counter. Of course, she knew Deanna wasn’t always working, but it had been a while since Tasha had been there and Deanna hadn’t. 

“No, your girlfriend isn’t here,” Geordi teased. Tasha glared, though she knew he couldn’t see it.

“Don’t be an asshole,” she retorted. He let out a breath of laughter and handed her a mug of coffee.

“Tasha?” a woman asked, walking up from behind her. She turned around.

“Oh, hey, Laren. What’re you doing here?”

“I work here,” she responded. “Started last week.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, her fingers catching slightly on the chain of her elaborate earring.

“Tasha’s a regular here. You two know each other?” Geordi asked as Ro slipped behind the counter.

“Yeah,” Tasha said. She was unsure of how to explain it, though, since they knew each other from group therapy for victims of abuse and people suffering from PTSD. Tasha had had a rough time growing up, and so had Ro, and she was sure Ro wouldn’t want her new coworkers knowing all that. 

Geordi seemed to notice her pointed lack of elaboration. “Cool.”

“Good to see you, Laren,” she said.

“You, too. See you around.”

*  
“Who’s the girl?” Deanna asked Beverly, nodding towards the table Beverly just came from.

Beverly turned around to follow her line of sight and smiled a little. “That’s Vash,” she said. “Jean-Luc introduced us.”

Jean-Luc, Deanna remembered, was that regular who always ordered a tea. Earl Grey. Hot. He and Beverly had known each other forever, and Deanna was pretty sure Beverly said he was getting his doctorate in anthropology or archeology or something. 

“She’s cute,” Deanna noted.

“Yeah,” Beverly agreed. “I think Jean-Luc may like her, but he hasn’t made a move-- kind of like someone else I know-- so I figured I might as well.”

Deanna rolled her eyes. “I get enough of that from Will and Geordi, thank you.”

“You know what would make us all stop?”

“Have fun on your date, Beverly.”

“Oh, I will.” She winked. Deanna shook her head.

*

Guinan didn’t work in her own cafe very much, but she did sometimes and she used to far more. She liked it, liked getting to know the customers, letting them talk to her about her problems. She had always been very approachable. It was part of what had made Ten Forward successful when it first opened. 

She was working one afternoon, though, with Will and Deanna when Tasha came in. “Tasha!” she said enthusiastically when she saw her. “It’s good to see you!”

“Hey, Guinan! You, too. How have you been?”

“Good. What can I get for you?” she asked. 

“Oh, just a coffee,” Tasha said, fishing in her pocket for her wallet. 

“Stop that, you know you don’t have to pay here,” Guinan said.

“Guinan, that’s sweet, but you don’t have to keep giving me free stuff. I have a job now, I’m fine.”

“I know I don’t have to give you free stuff, but I like to,” Guinan countered, grinning. She handed Tasha a coffee. They continued to banter a bit, until Guinan’s pointed looks and trademark stubbornness finally made her give up. And then she tipped as soon as Guinan turned around.

“They seem... close,” Deanna said inquisitively to Will, hoping his longer time at the cafe meant he had answers.

He shrugged. “Guinan likes her strays.”

“What does that mean?”

“From what I understand, Tasha didn’t have a great childhood. Spent a lot of time homeless and in shelters, and went through a lot. It’s part of why she’s always bringing kids in here and paying for them. She likes to help people like her,” he said quietly so Tasha and Guinan couldn’t overhear. “Guinan kinda took her in, gave her free stuff, a place to stay.”

“Oh,” Deanna said softly. She would have guessed that part of Tasha’s past was troubling, but she hadn’t known.

*

A few more weeks passed with Tasha stopping by frequently and spending far too long at the counter talking to Deanna and the others. On days when she wasn’t there, Deanna found herself bored. Well, except for when her mother had stopped by to be as irritating as humanly possible, but she would’ve preferred boredom to that.

During that time, Will and Geordi, with occasional additions from Data and Beverly when she was there, had made a game of making increasingly bad coffee related jokes whenever Tasha was in. From, “You like her a latte,” to, “Tell her she’s hotter than the coffee,” to, “Espresso your feelings, Deanna,” she was pretty sure she’d heard it all. She was also pretty sure she was about a joke away from killing them all.

*

“Tasha,” Deanna said, smiling as she came in one day.

“Hey,” she responded with a matching grin. “What’s up?”

“Oh, just the usual. What can I get you?”

“Oh, just the usual,” Tasha repeated teasingly. Deanna laughed a little. Tasha blushed. “But, um, to go. I’m kind of in a hurry today, sorry.”

“Okay, no problem,” Deanna said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. She turned around to grab a to go cup and heard Geordi take in a breath, like he was preparing to tell another coffee pun. “Geordi, I’m glaring at you right now,” she said, realizing he couldn’t see the look he was receiving. “And don’t you dare say anything because I’m writing my number on the cup so you can all stop meddling in my personal life, okay?” she hissed quietly. Geordi grinned.

“Finally.” Deanna rolled her eyes and grabbed a Sharpie, using it to write Tasha and then her phone number, and beneath it, “Call me.” She also grabbed a bagel and cream cheese and slipped them into a bag. She handed it all to Tasha and refused to let her pay.

Tasha left quickly, rushing to work. She didn’t notice the number on the cup until Worf pointed it out to her about an hour later.

*

When Tasha met Deanna for the date they’d set up, she looked at her and immediately started blushing.

“What?” Deanna asked noticing Tasha’s reaction and smiling at it.

“Nothing, I’ve just never seen you without the apron and with your hair. You look really nice. You always do, but... this is just new.”

“Thank you. You’re lucky I like my women like I like my coffee,” Deanna said, because even she couldn’t resist the joke.

“How’s that?” Tasha asked, smiling.

“Strong, hot, and almost unbearably sweet.”


End file.
